Where Europa League draw leaves Ghana's men

The exercise conducted on Friday has set up some exciting fixtures from a Ghanaian perspective

There will be a heavy Ghanaian presence when the group stage of the Uefa Europa League gets underway on September 14.

Fourteen players will be involved and by the draw held on Friday, there's just so much to look forward to.

Patrick Twumasi netted twice in Tuesday's playoff second leg as Astana were knocked out from the Champions League by Celtic.

The 23-year-old, who has been linked to Turkish outfit Bursaspor this summer, will be one of Astana's key weapons when they take on Villarreal, Maccabi Tel Aviv and Slavia Prague in Group A.

Centre-back Kasim Adams Nuhu scored into his own net in their Champions League playoff defeat to CSKA Moscow, but will hope for better fortunes when his Young Boys side play in Group B alongside Dynamo Kiev, Partisan Belgrade and Skenderbeu KF of Albania.

In Group C, Joseph Attamah Larweh will be in action as Istanbul Basaksehir have been pitted against SC Braga, Ludogorets of Bulgaria and TSG Hoffenheim.

The defender has been called up for Ghana's 2018 World Cup qualifying double-header against Congo in September.

Austria Wien, who have former Ashanti Gold defender Kadri Mohammed in their fold, have drawn AC Milan, HNK Rijeka of Croatia and Greek club AEK Athens in Group D.

There is no Ghanaian in Group E, but Danish youth international of Ghanaian descent Danny Amankwaa is in line to feature for FC Copenhagen in Group F, which also includes Locomotiv Moscow, FC Fastav Zlin of the Czech Republic and Moldovan club Sheriff Tiraspol.

There will be no Ghanaian to look out for in Group G but in Group H, Richmond Boakye-Yiadom and Abraham Frimpong will be available for selection when Red Star Belgrade come up against Arsenal, FC Koln and Bate Borisov of Belarus.

Recuperating duo Samuel Tetteh and David Atanga will see their team Red Bull Salzburg lock horns with Marseille, Vitoria de Guimaraes of Portugal and Turkish outfit Konyaspor in Group I. Guimaraes have 18-year-old Henry Medarious in their set-up.

When Athletic Bilbao clash with Swedish club Ostersunds, there will likely be a Ghanaian rivalry of some sort. Spanish youth star of Ghanaian descent Inaki Williams could lead the attack of the La Liga outfit with Samuel Mensah also expected to see some minutes for Ostersunds.

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Former Inter Allies left-back Patrick Kpozo and Frank Arhin could also line up for Graham Potter's charges. Hertha Berlin and Zorya Luhansk of Ukraine are the other teams in Group J.